XYZZY

04/28/2018

Robin was a magician. For his next stage show, he wanted to do a unique magic trick. A trick that will make him the most famous magician in the whole world. Little did he know that magic will change not only his life but his world forever. Read this intriguing tale of a magician and don’t forget to leave your comments.

Recommended age: 10+ years.

“Abracadabra”, nothing happened.

“Aaabracadabraaa”, still nothing.

Robin tried everything but nothing was working. He has been trying to create a new trick for his upcoming magic show. He is trying to teleport himself. You know what’s teleporting? It means getting transported across space and distance instantly. From one world to another world, literally. He thought it will be awesome to just disappear from the stage for some time and reappear after few minutes. The audience will go crazy.

“Hunakino sinoptra”

“Hocus pocus harlin codus”

Nothing happened. Disappointed, Robin thought of taking a break from practicing. He left his home to get some coffee at a nearby café. It was a windy day. Robin forgot to wear his coat. Though the café was just 2 blocks away, today it seemed like a walk of few miles.

Robin then decided to go to a book store in the hope of finding a book that might give him some ideas. He went to a vintage book store and asked the store keeper about books on magic. The bookkeeper takes Robin to the shelf that had a few books on magic. He bought a book and returned home.

On his way, he was trying to remember the magic words his master taught him.

“Xylem? No. Xyssus? Tch! Was it Xyzzy? Yes! Xyzzy!!” He was very excited. He could finally remember the magic phrase.

He opened the door of his house and felt strange. It was looking totally different. It was spic and span, as if somebody came and swiped it clean. The colour of the walls was different. Windows looked very old fashioned.

He went into the kitchen to get something to eat. He opened the cupboards. All of them were empty. Empty like nothing was kept there ever.

“How can the cupboards be empty when I bought everything just yesterday? How is it even possible?”, Robin was baffled and clueless.

“Thief? Not possible. I haven’t left home for that long in a week”, he mumbled.

All sorts of thoughts were flashing in his mind but he could not really understand. He walked towards the door to go out but to this utmost surprise, it was locked from outside.

“What is this happening??”, he rambled while struggling with the door knob.

Now he started getting scared. Nothing like this had ever happened before. None of his magic tricks had gone wrong ever. Okay, maybe once or twice. But what was happening now was beyond his understanding.

Then he went to the bedroom. The bedroom had nothing except four walls. His fear was unimaginable. He came outside and saw an old newspaper lying in a corner. He picked it up and checked the date.

April, 28th 1904

He was shocked at first and then suddenly it struck to him that he had teleported himself into the same house, but a different year.

“Yes! I did it! I did it!! Oh, finally!”, Robin was screaming with joy. He couldn’t wait to tell his family and friends. With the power of magic words, he knew he will go back in a jiffy.

Robin closed his eyes and said, “xyzzy”. He opened his eyes to look around but he was on top of the hill. Without wasting any time, he tried again. This time he was in a jungle. Without thinking much, Robin said the magic word once again. He was shocked to see himself back in his home. Although, the bedroom was still empty and the date on the newspaper was same.

“Okay, there is nothing to be afraid of. I can do this”, he said assuring himself. He decided to gather himself and do this without panicking further.

He picked up the book and started looking for “xyzzy”. Finally, he found the chapter which had everything about teleportation. He kept turning pages then his saw it – “XYZZY”.

What he read at the end of the page left him horrified.

“How to get back: To go back to the place of origin, you have to say “xyzzyyzzyx” with the right intention.

Warning: You will get three tries. If you said it wrong or incomplete, there will never be a point of return. You will be stuck and remain in that place forever.”

The book fell from Robin’s hands. He stood there. Numb. Frightened. Nervous.

Alone.

XYZZY

The quintessential magic word, originally from the “ADVENT” text-adventure game. The word XYZZY would teleport the player when spoken in the right location.

That’s fantasy for you. Kids who enjoy reading this genre might enjoy reading it. At this point, even I don’t have an answer to your question. I might come up with a sequel. Thank you so much for reading, Ashwini